topic Re: calculated character variable in proc sql in SAS Programming

calculated character variable in proc sql

SAS_inquisitive — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 01:26:15 GMT

Calculated is not working in character variable alias.

proc sql;
  select name as name1,
         calculated (substr(name1,1,2)) as test
    from sashelp.class;
quit;

ChrisNZ — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 03:14:03 GMT

Works fine for me:

proc sql;
  select upcase(NAME)                 as NAME1
        ,substr(calculated NAME1,1,2) as NAME2
  from SASHELP.CLASS;
quit;

RW9 — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 08:24:02 GMT

Calculated is not a function, so your syntax:

calculated (<some code>)

is invalid, it should read:

calculated <calculated variable name>

And then any further code should appear outside that statement.

This point is however moot as the code:

proc sql;
  select name as name1,
         substr(name,1,2) as test
    from sashelp.class;
quit;

Is in fact all you need, the calculated just adds more processing onto the whole thing so is a waste.

Loko — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 12:37:28 GMT

name1 is not a calculated variable within the proc sql syntax. It is an alias you set to an already existing variable from the data file.

Calculated makes sens when you refer to a variable that it is generated in the proc sql.

Consider the following as an example:

proc sql;
  select name as name1,
         substr(name1,1,2) as test,
		  length(calculated test) as test1
    from sashelp.class;
quit;